Blue Mountain Stable Blog

My first ever tobiano (and one of my first ever customs) placed next to my latest, and a perfect illustration of why you stick to your passions. If you've ever felt like your work will never amount to those created by the big name artists, then you need to read this.

My first girl was a pretty concept, but my gosh, she was awful. About the only good thing going for her was I somehow managed to keep her mostly smooth as I hand painted all of her acrylics. But her whites are flat and stark, and her jet black is also flat, with no blues or brown tones to give it life. And what was I thinking with those eyes and hooves?

But did I give up? Nope!

I accepted her for what she was, not great, but not trash either, and continued to paint!

Now look where I've come. My latest boy has so many different whites painted into him, ranging from off-white pearl to a nice creamy tone at his mane tips and along his feathers. He has depth with pinking. And look! His hooves aren't solid yellow, lol.

While I still feel I have a long way to improve on eyes, they are a big difference from the eyes on my first black tobiano.

I've come a long way from that blotchy attempt at pinto mapping.

And lastly, even my "simple solid" colors now have so much depth and life to them, with many different colors actually building up the apparent color.

If you love model horse customizing and drool over works by people like Nikki Button, Kaylee Parks, or any other model horse customizer out there, then stick with it. Your early work isn't going to be masterpieces and that's okay! It's totally okay. I still love my first girl. Even though I'll never take her to a live show, she's a proud member of my collection because she illustrates where I came from. You will get there! Just stick with it.